Run Rabbit Run
by freeburg667
Summary: A girl named Prachi comes to investigate a zoid wreck then gets captured and kiddnapped by Raven. please R&R good, good. I've kinda stopped writing this, but if you want me to keep writing i need at least 5 good reviews.
1. Default Chapter

How could he of let Van get so close to let him totally trash his Geno Breaker? It was a total accident on Van's side.

Raven Looked up at his mangled metal that was quite recently a Zoid and kicked it.

"You worthless piece of junk," he growled at it.

He sat down on the ground and waited for Shadow to come back. Raven put his head in his hands. I'll get you for this flyheight. He thought.

Raven looked up a couple of minutes later. He could hear rhythmic beats in the distance. A horse, galloping full-pelt at his wreckage.

As it got closer he could see that there was a young girl riding the stunning black. Raven moved behind a piece of trash-Zoid so she wouldn't see him.

The Friesian halted to a stop and the girl dismounted.

"Wow," she said to herself but loud enough for Raven to hear. "Someone wasn't paying attention when their Zoid got trashed."

Raven's eye twitched. Was she making fun of him? Surely she didn't know it was his Zoid?

She walked over to the mangled Zoid and examined it.

"Defiantly some new type of Zoid…Geno Saurer maybe," she thought aloud.

How did she know it was a Geno Saurer? Raven thought. The only people that know about them are the army, Hiltz and Reese. He couldn't just let her wander off now.

He had a suspicion he'd seen her around somewhere before.

Raven moved to get a better look at her.

She was a nicely formed girl with pale skin and her long, brown hair was tied back into two ponytails with bits hanging out the front. She was wearing a short black t-shirt (kinda like a crop-top) and a pair of black flares. She had beautiful emerald eyes… He thought he had seen her eyes somewhere else…

He couldn't just let her leave now, He was sure that she was from Shubaltz' base.

Without a Zoid, he might actually be able to catch him.

Raven slid off his mangled mess without a sound and pulled out a knife.

She bent down for a second to pick up something interesting. When she came up, two strong arms wrapped over her shoulder and mouth. He held his knife to her throat.

Her eyes opened wide with surprise and shock.

She tried to struggle but he held her to tightly.

"Who are you?" He whispered as he took his hand off her mouth reluctantly.

"Prachi," the girl said firmly.

Raven tightened his grip from around her shoulders and searched her for any weapons. He found an I.D card and some keys.

She struggled so he pressed the knife harder to her throat.

"Prachi Shubaltz… Hmmm… So that means you're Shubaltz's kid," he said.

She started struggling again and managed to elbow her attacker in the stomach.

It didn't hurt him but the shock of her actually doing it loosened his grip.

She snatched her I.D off him and made a run for her horse. She boosted herself into the saddle but before they could gallop off Raven made an enormous leap over the horse's back. On the way he grabbed Prachi around the waist and they landed with a 'thud' on the ground.

Prachi coughed as the dust floated up.

"Get up!" Raven yelled at her as he picked himself off the ground.

As Prachi was getting up, something hard hit her on the head and she fell back to the ground- out cold.

Raven grabbed her by the scruff and walked off into the distance.


	2. Derek's freakout

Prachi awoke hours later to find herself leaning against a cement wall, hands bound tightly by ropes behind her.

She glanced over at her kidnapper and squeaked in surprise.

It was Raven! Raven kidnapped her? But why? Did he know who she was? Did he know that when her dad found out who kidnapped her he would be blasted to the other side of Zi? And what happened to her horse…

She tried to stand up but Raven turned around and threw his knife at her. It landed in the ground, millimetres from her leg.

"Stay there," Raven growled, walking into the bush. He returned 10 minutes later with another guy.

"…Who does your hair?" Prachi heard voices coming back.

"So this is your girl? She's cute," The strange guy said.

"Your lying straight through your teeth, Derek," Raven said.

Prachi glared at him. He didn't she was hot? What a joker! Prachi thought.

"Your totally right," Derek said, flicking his wrist.

"Yeah whatever man. Just don't get too close," Raven said nudging Derek away.

Raven walked over to Prachi. "Get up."

Prachi ignored him.

"Get up," Raven repeated slightly annoyed.

Prachi ignored him again and glared at him.

"Stupid bitch!" he growled at her and hit her over her face with some force. His hit gave her a black bruise on her left cheek.

Raven griped her arm, yanked her up and dragged her along.

"Where are we going?" Derek asked, jogging along side Raven.

"I'm taking you to the car joint then you can figure it out," He answered. Raven didn't seem to happy about taking him.

Prachi's feet were tripping over themselves as she tried to follow his pace. She was still drowsy and she couldn't focus properly on what she wanted her legs to do.

"Are you gonna' kill me?" Prachi asked.

"Maybe, maybe not," he said blankly.

But Derek laughed. "Of course not love."

"But she's not your love" Raven said.

They walked for about an hour. They were heading for an old car wreckers then before Prachi knew it she got thrown forward and hit a car's bulbar.

Ow! That hurt! She thought. As she looked around she saw that they were at some kind of ruins.

"There. You here. You get a car that works and get out of here," Raven said.

Derek took a couple of steps forward then screamed like a girl and jumped up onto a car's bonnet. He waved his arms about like a girl and said; "Kill it! Kill it! No! Stop it!"

Raven looked at the ground. He saw a wolf spider. "It's just a spider you pussy!"

"I don't like pussy's either," He said jumping onto the roof.

Prachi raised an eyebrow at that. There's something wrong him, seriously. Prachi thought.

"You're an idiot," Raven said.

"Don't be thilly," Derek flicked his wrist again.

"I'm going now. I'll leave you to sort your own poofy problems.

Raven turned his back on Derek who was still dancing around on the roof and walked over to Prachi. She was still on the ground, leaning against the bulbar. He seized her by the scruff of her clothes and yanked her towards a shed.

"Hey! Hey! Hey! Be careful!" she said in a high-pitched voice.

"Shut up," he said as he opened the sliding door of the shed. He flicked the light and uncovered a black convertible Porsche.

Raven opened the door and threw Prachi on to the seat on the passengers' side and shut the door behind her.

He walked around to the drivers' side and got in.

Raven shoved the key into the keyhole and stared the car.

"Raven?" Prachi asked.

He wasn't surprised that she knew his name. Almost everyone in the southern part of Zi knew him and his reputation as a brutal killing machine that couldn't be shut down. He knew it was true and he didn't deny it either. The news reporters described him as "cold" and "black-hearted". Raven didn't care what anyone thought of him. As long as he wasn't caught it would be all ok.

"What?" He snapped.

"Could ya untie me?"

"No," he answered blankly.

"Why not?"

Then Raven got a better idea.

"Fine then."

"What?"

"Well do you want to be untied or not?"

"Yes!"

Raven untied her wrists from behind her back and pulled them in front of her but didn't let got of them. He lent over her and flicked open the glove box. He grabbed a pair of handcuffs and chained her hands to the handle on the door.

"Wonderful," Prachi said sarcastically.

"Consider yourself lucky," He said coldly as he started the truck, pushed in the clutch and the accelerator and shoved the gearstick into first gear.

"Why should I consider myself lucky? I've been kidnapped by someone like…like… you!"

He pushed the clutch and pushed it into second gear.

"Because, if you weren't any use to me, you would have been dead by now." But that was a lie. He knew he'd only kidnapped her so that she wouldn't run back off to the military and tell them about his Zoid.

Raven pushed it into third… forth… fifth…sixth…

Soon they were speeding down a long abandoned freeway.

"Where are we going?" Prachi asked a little while later.

"To a town."

"Why? Wouldn't you want to avoid towns?"

"Just shut up! And why are you even concerned if I get caught?" he snapped.

"I'm not!"

"Well good then. Just sit there and shut up."

Why did Raven want Prachi anyway? What did she do to deserve this? Is it just because she was the 'colonel's daughter'?

Prachi put her head against the window and watched the scenery wiz past and the sky grow darker.

Raven looked over at her, He didn't know what he was going to do with her be he didn't want her running off and telling everyone that she saw his Zoid wreckage. If he didn't get another Zoid and Karl caught up with him he would be caught again.

Raven stopped the truck a few miles from the town so they had a while to walk. He got out and walked around the front of the truck and yanked open Prachi's door. She went flying out and she hit the ground with her hands still attached to the door handle.

She looked up at Raven with confusion.

He pulled out a key from a pocket of his leather jacket and unlocked the handcuffs. He grabbed Prachi's wrist, yank her to her feet and started walking towards the town.

This is the perfect time to escape Prachi thought.

She looked around, it was really dark and the only lights were in front of them from the town.

She started to struggle and pull back, then push forward, turn from left to right and basically go crazy. Raven's other hand came swinging out of nowhere and hit her over her face. She fell to the ground and Raven grabbed her wrist again. Prachi kicked Raven as hard as she could in the shins and Raven accidentally let go of her wrists.

She scrambled to her feet and bolted towards the bright lights of the town. She was fast but surprisingly Raven caught up with her. He made a leap for her and as he landed on her back and they both flew forwards into the dust.

Raven moved quickly and sat on Prachi's stomach so she couldn't go anywhere again.

"What the hell were you thinking!?" he yelled as he hit her over the face again which gave her a black eye.

He pulled out his handgun, leaned into Prachi and put the gun to her temple.

"Next time you try a stunt like that, I'll shoot you," he said in a low voice.

He pulled the trigger. It just clicked.

"And next time it will be loaded," he growled.

He got up off her and shoved his gun back in its holder that hung around his waist.

Prachi stayed in the dirt, with tears running down her bruised cheeks. Why was he doing this? Why didn't he just shoot her? Was he going to? Or did he normally carry unloaded guns?

Raven tore his eyes away from the starry sky and looked down at the sobbing mess on the ground. He walked over to her and nudged her with his foot.

"Get up," he said unsympathetically.

"Get up," he repeated and nudged her a bit harder.

She reluctantly got to her feet, still looking at the ground. Raven grabbed her wrist and yanked her along.


	3. The Spencer Encounter

They got to the outskirts of the town at dawn.

Few people were out and the shopkeepers were opening their shops to start selling their stock. Raven looked at Prachi. She was all dirty and beaten up. Raven brushed the dirt off her face and out of her hair so it wouldn't look suspicious.

He walked into a gun shop and walked up to the counter.

"Raven?" a man asked from behind the counter.

Raven nodded.

He came around from the counter, shook his hand, gave him a hug and slapped him on the back.

"My man Raven! Whatz up nigger? Whatz you doin' here?

"Hey Zack, I'm just in town so I thought I'll come in and see ya," Raven answered.

"Who'z your bitch?" asked Zack looking at Prachi.

"Just a hostage," Raven shrugged.

"It'z about time you got a girl man. Anywayz watch you'se need?"

"Stuff"

"Yo dude, I'm not a mind reader, you know," asked Zack.

"Ammo."

"Alright man, hand over you guns then. How many does chu' need??"

Raven pulled out his handgun, a knife and a medium sized box and put them on the counter.

"I want a round in the gun, the box filled with ammo and the knife sharpened."

"Only one gun?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

Raven picked up the gun. He pushed a button and a second part jumped out the side. He pushed another button and a second hole appeared next to the hole where the bullets come out from and a little stick appeared next to the button. He pushed the stick forward then pulled it up and then pushed it back into another hole and a second gun jumped out the top.

"Only one gun?" Raven repeated.

Zack laughed.

"Your always full of tricks man," shaking his head.

"But I need something else," Raven hurried.

"Like what?"

"A Zoid."

"What?"

"A Zoid. Something fast, something that my organoid can fuse with. You know?"

"Err… yeah okay. I got one up back but…your not planning to bring her in there, are you?" Zack said looking at Prachi.

"No, not if you don't want me too."

"What about this? I'll take you out back and Spencer can stay here and mind your hostage," He said jerking his head at the young guy assembling new guns and listening to music through headphones.

"Alright then," Raven said as he pulled the handcuffs out of his pocket and banged them on behind her back.

"Lock the door Zack," Raven said.

"Fine," He answered, walking over to the door. He locked it with a "click" and flicked the "open" sign to "closed".

Zack picked up an empty bullet case and tossed it at Spencer. It hit him on the head and bounced into a box.

He looked up and pulled off his headphones to see two men and a girl staring at him.

"What?" he asked as if he was in trouble.

Spencer looked young, around about late teens/early twenties and he had long shiny brown hair tied back into a loose ponytail. He was wearing a grey t-shirt that had a picture of Al Pacino holding a gun (from Scarface) and a pair of dirty baggy jeans.

"Watch her until we get back," Raven said shoved her forward hard so that she lost her balance and fell flat on her face.

He watched her fall and stared at her for a minute then looked back up at Raven and Zack.

"Out the back if you have any troubles," said Zack and they walked off together through a door.

Prachi got to get feet and watched them leave. She turned around to look at Spencer. When she did he wasn't there. She felt something trailing down her shoulder and over her arm. She instantly looked at what was touching her. It was Spencer.

"What are you doing?" she asked as she backed away from him.

"Are you his fuck-buddy?" He said moving towards her.

"What?" she said, glaring at him.

"I'm much better, you know?" he reached for her shoulder.

That sent shivers up her spine that made her move back again causing her to hit the wall.

"Stay away from me!" she screamed at him.

He took the opportunity to move in on her so he pushed his body hard into Prachi's. He put his hand on her hip and his other hand on her neck. He put his mouth next to Prachi's ear.

"Well, well your jumpy aren't you? And you're a spicy little thing too," he whispered in her ear.

Prachi's heart was racing.

He pressed his lips on the spot under her ear and moved down. Prachi had had enough; she leant forward a little way and bit him hard on the shoulder. He cried out in astonishment and jumped out. He stared at her for a moment but before he could move back in, she thrusted herself into him and pushed him backwards. As she was doing this she got her feet under his and tripped him over. She walked around him and put a foot on his stomach so he couldn't get up. She glanced over at the door Raven and Zack had gone through and saw them standing there. She squeaked in shock and jumped back into a wall.

Zack walked over to Spencer that was still lying on the ground and he kicked him.

"Get up," he snarled and he bent down, grabbed his arm and yanked him to his feet. "What the hell do you think you where doing?" he yelled in anger, and threw him at a wall. Spencer smacked into it, bounced off and hit the ground.

"Get out!" he yelled pointing to the door they had just come from.

He scrambled to his feet and left. Zack turned around to look at Raven. Raven just simply shrugged and walked over and grabbed Prachi. She was shaking and she felt cold all over.

"I'll be back in an hour to pick up the Zoid and my things," he said to Zack

"Yeah, okay, whatever, but just don't get caught… now I need to go sort out a little boy," he said winking at Prachi.

Raven put on a pair of blue Oakley's and black baseball cap that had the red New York symbol on it. It covered most of his face and covered his identity (his marking; a dot and a seven) and walked out. Zack walked over to the door and watched them walk down the town's street.

Raven stopped at a corner and took off the handcuffs Prachi was still wearing. Then he turned to her and gave her a hat and some sunnies.

"You gotta put these on and if we run into anyone that recognizes you when we're here and don't do anything to earn yourself a bullet in your brain. And we gotta' act normal or else someone will know what's going on. All I know is that some high officials from the Imperial side are in town and this whole town knows who I am and what I look like okay?" Raven explained.

"But what happens if we do run into them and he does know that I'm me?" Prachi asked.

"Well, we will get to that later. C'mon put the hat and sunnies on before someone sees us."

"Well where are we going then?" she asked as she put on the hat.

"To get a couple of Zoids parts," Raven answered.

Of what happened with Spencer and Prachi, Raven felt a little sympathy towards her. She must have got pretty shaken up he thought.

Raven grabbed her hand so nothing would look suspicious and walked into an open factory. They walked straight through a door and up to the counter. On one end a couple of Shubaltz' soldiers were ordering some Zoids parts and on the end there was a black "boom-boom" women writing down something on the other side of the counter. Raven walked up to her.

Prachi thought he was acting really business-like and he seemed Snoop Dogg material.

"I need two shoulder guns for a…" he reached into his pocket pulled out a piece of paper and read it. "A XR200 Liger."

The women looked him suspiciously with her eyes narrowed.

"How in hell did you get your hands on one of those? They are Imperial property and I don't see any uniform. The only way for you get on of those is to steal it. And come to think of it one of those had been stolen a couple of weeks ago…" she said.

She stood up and pulled off Raven and Prachi's hat at the same time.

She jumped back and gasped with her eyes opened wide.

"It's you!" She shrieked. "Its Raven! Get him! Get him!"

_Bang! Bang! Bang! _Raven drove three bullets into the women's head. She fell back off her chair and hit the ground with blood oozing onto the floor. Prachi jumped.

The two soldiers at the end turned at the sound of the shots. Raven tore off his Oakley's and threw them on the ground. He grabbed Prachi around the shoulders and held his gun to her head.

"Shove off or I'll shoot her!" Raven yelled at them. "Karl wouldn't be too happy that you were involved in his only daughters death, would he?"

The soldiers growled, backed down and lowered their weapons.

Raven started firing his gun again. He used the rest of his round on them. As he fired, blood splatter on screen they got pushed into the wall from the force of the bullets and when he had finished with they slid down the wall leaving blood trails. There was blood on the counter, on the wall and on the equipment. On the now-mangled soldiers, where the bullets had entered there was still smoke rising from the holes. Raven walked over to them and picked up a gun and walked to the door they came in through. He blasted the door handle apart and kicked the door open.

In the streets everyone had stopped doing whatever they were doing and froze on the spot when they heard gun shots then a crazy man with a gun and a girl run away from the mangled door then the army run after them.

Raven ran into the gun shop and he dropped his gun to pull Zack into the back.

"Why are you back so early? Where are the Zoid parts? And why is the army chasing after you…again? You just can't keep yourself contained can you?" said Zack.

"Have you done my things?"

"Yes."

"Well go get them then!" Raven yelled at him.

Zack came back in a couple of minutes with Raven's gun, box and knife and shoved it into his hand.

"I guess you want the Zoid too? Don't cha?"

"Well it wouldn't be much use to me here would it?" Raven growled.

"Well don't get your knickers in a knot," Zack replied but didn't move.

"Well c'mon then! Are you just gonna stand there?"

"Ain't you capable enough to go get it by your little onesys?"

"Fuck you," Raven said and shouldered Zack as he walked past him.

"Bye then," he laughed at Raven's attitude.

Raven glanced at Prachi, she acted like didn't mind an adventure running all over a strange town with a mass murderer. Raven was still holding her hand, although he didn't know why. He didn't need to act anymore so he could grab her wrist again but he didn't. Was he beginning to like his hostage? He couldn't possibly…could he? She was the bait, nothing more.

They walked over to Raven's new Zoid. Prachi looked at it in admiration. It looked like a flexible Black Blade Liger with extra parts.

"Get in," Raven said as the top opened up.

Prachi carefully climbed in and sat in the seat behind the pilot's. Raven jumped in after her and buckled up his harness. The top closed and all went dark for a second and then the controls, buttons and screens lit up.

He needed to get out of there before someone tries to stop him. He ran the Liger until they came to a forest.


	4. Raven's Confessions

Raven walked over to the side of the lake and picked up a few flat rocks and threw one across the lake and watched it skip across the water. Then he threw another and let his thoughts solve themselves in the peacefulness of his silence.

He remembered skipping stones with his dad a long time ago.

"You know that thinking about them wont help Hiltz and me," Suddenly interrupted Reece in his head.

"Well that's your problem, not mine," answered Raven as he flung another rock and watch it bounce across the water.

"Actually it is your problem. Just kill that damn girl or something because she is no use to us anyway. What are you going to do? Blow up another base? The Guardian Force isn't hanging with Shubaltz anyway."

"I have no interest in The Guardian Force anyway, just the weasel, Van. And how do you know all this anyway? And what do you mean 'us'? Man, fuck you! Its just me and my hostage!"

"Well whatever, but we need you back now so Hiltz can beat you up for running off. So go back and kill your hostage."

"Why can't I bring her?" Raven asked.

"Do you want Hiltz and me to kill her? Then bring her. If you want to kill her yourself then do it."

"Fuck off Reese," Raven was getting annoyed with her.

"I'm giving you until dawn to kill her then we want you back straight after you've done it," she said then left.

"Shit!" Raven muttered.

Raven sighed and started walking back to the camp. Why did Raven care about what happens to her, anyway? He doesn't care about anyone or anything. The whole world seemed to be on his shoulders. Inside, it was driving him crazy.

Raven couldn't be bothered keeping on the track so he walked through to bush land until he got back to the camp. He looked around and Prachi was nowhere to be seen. His heart stopped for a second.

Raven panicked. He knew he shouldn't of left. What if shadow ate her? Or Hilts and Reese got her?

"Prachi!" Raven called.

He heard something behind him and he swung around to see her standing right behind him.

Before Prachi knew it, Raven was hugging her. He seemed pretty upset. Raven decided right there and then he cared too much about her to let anything else happen to her.

"Raven?" Prachi asked.

"Prachi… I- I love you. You mean more to me than just a hostage. Everyday you were with me I looked forward to see you wake up and hear you talk. When you were away from me I missed you and when you were with me I felt secure. I don't know how you feel about me but I'm telling you how I fell about you," Raven said, holding her out at arms length.

Prachi gazed at Raven. She didn't understand him. He was a murderer, a killer. He had wanted to use her just a week ago now he's saying he loved her. He could of shot her a million times by now but he hadn't. He cared about her enough not to kill her. That didn't seem right for Raven. He seemed to have no heart, no sense of love and he didn't seem to care about what he was destroying. He was determined to do what he had to, destroy a base, wipe out a town, to kill Van. But now he's saying that he loves her. She wasn't even sure she felt the same.

Raven stepped closer to her and pressed his on hers. Prachi's eyes grew before shutting and letting her push into the kiss. Raven had no idea what he was doing, but he and Prachi seemed to enjoy it. When he released her they could do nothing but stare at each other and let air return to their lungs.

"I love you too, Raven," she answered then pulled him into another kiss.

On a cliff overlooking Raven's camp

"Wow. I guess you've got competition, girl," said Hiltz, laughing at Reese's anger.

"Shut up Hiltz!"

"Don't burst your bubble Reese, we'll get rid of her."

"What about Raven?" Reese asked.

"We'll catch the girl, leave a note and then when rabbit comes after her we'll tell him if he doesn't do what we want him to do then we'll kill her. Simple as that."

"Well, how do we catch her? With the organoids? I told him he had till' dawn to get rid of her," Reese said.

"Ok, well, we'll take her tonight then. Okay? Just chill girl," He said.

"It's just that…"

"It's just that, what? Your not nervous, are you? Your not going to chicken out, are you?"

"No! Never! I-"

"Well shut up then," Hiltz said, looking back over to Raven.

"Were are we going to keep her?"

"There's an abandoned mine about eight miles south of here, we'll put her in there," Hiltz answered.

Notes to the general public (yep that's you!)

Hiltz calls Raven Rabbit because to Hiltz he's the hunter and Raven's the hunted. (Raven the bird is a hunter and rabbit the animal is the hunted.)


	5. Hiltz's Plan

Raven stared up at the stars and for the first time in his lonely life he felt safe. He looked at Prachi. She was sleeping soundly on the other side of his little campfire. He hadn't slept for ages and just the thought was making him drowsy. Soon enough he had drifted off to sleep.

Prachi felt someone brush their lips across the back of her neck. Without opening her eyes she giggled.

"Raven, you woke me up!" She whispered.

"Raven's still asleep, but I'm sure we can work something out," said a smooth, deep voice.

Prachi gasped. But before she could do anything else she felt a sharp prick in her neck. She went out like a light.

The next morning he woke up to find Prachi gone. He walked over to where she was sleeping last night. He found a note addressed to him.

Raven,

We have your bitch. Come to the abandoned mine that is about eight miles west your camp. Come alone. Don't bring your Zoid. Don't bring shadow. Walk. If you try and pull any tricks, she dies. If you bring anyone, she dies too. If you don't come we'll leave her were you can find it.

Reese.

Raven was shattered. The one time he thought she was safe, Hiltz and Reese kidnaps her. He couldn't let anything happen to her or he wouldn't be able to forgive himself.

He was really going to make them pay now. He grabbed a couple of things and set off towards to horizon.

At the cave

"Wake up, little girl."

Prachi cracked her eyes open and jerked her head up. She was leaning up against a wall with her hands chained up. She looked around. She couldn't see the source of the voice.

A woman stepped out. She had blue hair and blue organoid standing behind her.

"Who are you?" Prachi asked.

"Don't worry about that. You don't need to know. We are just protecting you from Raven. He's a bad person you know?"

"Raven is not a bad person!" Prachi yelled.

"Oh yeah?" Reese hit her with a rush of images. Raven killing people, blowing up things, murdering her dad then murdering her.

"No!" She yelled, shaking her head. "No! Raven wouldn't do that anymore! You're a liar!"

"He doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anything except himself."

"Yes he does!" Prachi jumped up and tried to charge Reese. "Yes he does!" As soon as she was up the chain yanked her back down. She hit her head on the wall and blood stared pouring out and sliding down the side of her face.

She stared up at Reese, smirking. Reese stepped closer to Prachi. Prachi suddenly kicked out and hit Reese straight in the shin.

Reese jumped back, holding her leg. "You bitch," she snarled, hitting Prachi across the face.

Prachi laughed. "Is that the best you can do? Too bad, so sad. You lose."

"Shut the fuck up, bitch," Reese growled. Before she could hit Prachi, a hand caught hers.

"Leave her alone, she beat you," said the smooth voice she heard the night before.

"No she-"

"We need her alive. Now piss off," he said.

Prachi was weary of this new person. He looked strong so there was no use in trying to hurt him. He walked around and stood in front of her.

She felt uneasy and nervous. She didn't know what he was going to do to her. She knew she couldn't trust him but she had to be strong or else she knew she wouldn't get out of this alive.

"What's your name?" Hiltz asked.

Prachi stared up at him, too petrified to talk. He reminded her of Spencer and what he tried to do to her. She didn't want that to happen again and she didn't have anyone to save her this time.

"You can talk. I wont kill you. You know? Raven has good taste to choose someone like you. Your cute."

He moved in to Prachi and she kicked out again but missed. Hiltz pushed his thumb and fingers on either side of her face and said, "If I was you, I wouldn't try that again or things could get… messy." He smirked. Prachi whimpered.

He pressed his mouth hard on hers. She squeaked in surprise and tried to pull away. When he did pull away Prachi coughed. Hiltz moved down to her neck and Prachi edged into him. She lifted her arm and put the chain around his neck. She pulled it tight.

Hiltz started choking. He grabbed the chain and tried to loosen it. Of course he was much stronger than Prachi so he succeeded.

"Bugger off!" She screamed at him, trying to kick him again.

He jumped up, rubbing the feeling back into his throat. He glared at her before hitting her, giving her another black bruise. Prachi's eyes started watering from the pain.

"Stand up," He ordered to her.

She shook her head and turned it away from him in fear that he might hit her again.

He sighed, grabbed her by the scruff and yanked her to her feet. She was unsteady and she felt like she was going to just fall back down again.

He pinned her arms on either side of her and pushed his body into her. She was trapped. She couldn't go down, go forward or back.

"You better start being nice to me because when Raven comes, I will kill you." He stepped back from her and she fell to the ground, not moving.

Hiltz smirked and left.


	6. Rabbit Falls

Raven walked across the grassland, he could finally see the mine where Prachi was. He just needed to get over the hill and he would be there. He started running up the hill. Raven stopped when he got to the top and stared down on the mine. He spotted Reese standing outside. Raven figured she must have been waiting for him.

He stared descending down the hill.

"Where is she?" He said, dumping his bag.

"Don't I get a 'hallo' or 'how are you?' anymore?" Reese asked.

"If I don't see her then I'll hurt you."

"Puha, fine then, be that way. Hiltz, he's here," she called into the mine.

"It's about bloody time too!" he said walking out.

"Where is she?"

"You're here Rabbit, I thought you were never coming."

"Hiltz don't play games with me! I wont ask again," growled Raven.

"Ambient, bring her out!" He ordered.

He roared then Prachi screamed at the sight of the organoid.

When the organoid brought out Prachi Raven gasped at the sight of her. She had blood running down the side of her face, a bruise over her cheek and one over her eye on the other side. Also her clothes were ripped and she seemed almost too weak to stand on her own two feet.

"I'm gonna tear you to pieces, Hiltz!" Raven yelled.

"Oh shut up Raven. Just be thankful that's she's still alive," Hiltz said.

"Prachi…" Raven started, walking over to her. "What have they done to you?" He said, raising a hand to her battered face.

"Raven, I- I'm sorry," she started.

"Shhh… it's ok now. Everything will be alright," Raven said softly.

"Awww, how cute. Your reunited to your love, only to be ripped apart again because the only way she goes is that you stay," Reese said wickedly.

"What?! Why do you want me?" he asked.

"You'll see sooner or later," Hiltz said.

"If you think I'm gonna stay here with you two then you've got another thing coming!"

"It's really up to you if she lives or dies. You stay, she goes. You go, she dies,"

Hiltz smirked.

Raven glared at Hiltz then sighed and walked back over to Prachi.

"You need to go now. You go back to the camp, get the Zoid and go to your base, okay?"

"Good choice Rabbit," Hiltz said, throwing the keys to Raven.

Raven unlocked the chains and threw the keys back to Hiltz.

"But Raven. I can't leave you here. I-I just can't," Said Prachi.

"Yes you can. You have to. Now go!" He said, giving her a hug. "Go. Now!"

Prachi stared at him for a second and then turned and headed for the camp. Raven turned and watched her walk away from him.

Click

Raven swung around to see Reese pointing a gun at Prachi. She took a moment to focus and aim.

"Crap!" Raven yelled, jumping up.

Reese fired. The bullet went zooming out of the gun and straight into Raven's stomach.

His hand instantly jumped up to his stomach. He took a couple of steps backwards and peeled back his hand a bit. There was blood dripping all over his hand and soaking his shirt and fall backwards onto the grass.

Owww," Raven moaned twisting around on the grass.

Prachi twisted around to see Raven lying on the ground with a blood-soaked shirt.

Prachi ran back to Raven and kneeled down beside him. "Jesus Raven, your hurt real bad."

"No, I'm alright," said Raven, straining his voice, trying to ease the pain.

"No your not. Your bleeding real bad," She said shakily.

"It's alright I'll fix it. But now you have to go. Now!" he said trying to hide his pain, but failing miserably.

"Raven…" Prachi said, standing up.

"Go!" Raven yelled.

She started walking away and looked back at Raven lying on the ground.

"Don't look back!" He yelled at her.

She burst out in tears and ran off.

"Raven, why did you?" Reese asked walking towards him. She bent down and put a hand out to touch him.

"Don't you dare touch me," He snarled, his voice strained.

"Raven, I-I didn't mean to. It was your fault anyway for getting in front of that bullet."

"C'mon Reese, Leave the little boy to weep over his wounds," Hiltz said, walking over and pulling Reese to her feet. "Go inside, I'll meet you in there."

Reese walked away and into the cave.

"Now look what you've done Rabbit. You've gone and got yourself shot," Hiltz said kneeling beside him on one knee.

"You should pay more attention to your surroundings," Raven said.

"What?"

"You know Reese likes you. She probably doesn't show it because she thinks your too busy for her!" Raven scratched out.

"Right Rabbit," Hiltz said, patting Raven's side.

He got up and started walking away. Raven started crawling towards his bag that he dumped on the ground earlier. He pulled out his gun. He shot it at Hiltz's heel. It caught the back and tripped him over. He fell flat on his face.

Raven laughed weakly at him as he got to his feet again. Hiltz turned around with anger in his eyes.

"Ambient! Get that gun!" His organoid rushed at Raven and knocked his gun out of his hands with its tail. It went flying away and landed about ten metres away.

Then Hiltz walked up to him and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, dragged him to his feet and pinned him to a tree.

"If you try that stunt again, it'll be the last thing you'll ever do," Hiltz growled.

He was pushing against Raven's wound and was really hurting him. Raven had blood dripping over Hiltz, and blood was dipping from his mouth.

Hiltz glared at Raven and said, "You watch yourself, kid. Because one of these days someone's gonna' get hurt, and it ain't gonna be me." He let go of Raven and he fell to the ground.

"Get up, you lousy piece of shit," Hiltz said, kicking Raven with his foot.

Raven knew he was only the kid in their group, and he knew Hiltz would go as far as killing him to get what he wanted. He wiped the blood from his mouth, watching Hiltz watch him.

"Why do you want me here, anyway? You've got what you wanted, so why don't you let me go?" Raven coughed, still lying on the ground.

"You'll see rabbit, you'll see," Hiltz said, smirking.

Raven moaned and leaned back on the wall. He felt like he was dying. His pain was almost unbearable to stand.

Reese thought it would bee amusing to watch him so she sat opposite him and watched his every movement.

"Reese, come over here," Hiltz called to Reese about ten minutes later. "Leave the kid alone."

Reese got up and walked over to Hiltz. Raven looked up to see where they were going.

"What?" Reese asked.

"Your damn lucky Raven jumped in front of that bullet," Hiltz said.

"Why?"

"Do you know who that girl was?"

"Who?"

"That was Karl Shubaltz's daughter," Hiltz said.

"So?"

"So that means she will run back to the base and get the army out looking for us."

"But isn't that a bad thing?" Reese asked.

"No, because when they come we can kill Shubaltz. Remember last time? He was the one that fired the gravity cannon shell and flattened the Death Stinger."

"…And you want revenge?"

"Exactly," Hiltz said.


	7. Back to the Base

Prachi ran that eight miles and she didn't stop until she got back to the XR Liger. Prachi hadn't piloted a Zoid for ages and she hoped she could handle the Liger.

"Right Liger! You don't know me and I don't know you so here goes," She said to it.

She jumped into the cockpit and set off. It was a bit stubborn at first but Prachi soon got the feel of it.

As the Liger ran up the hill to the top of the gorge that looked over the imperial base Prachi remembered that the Zoid was stolen and the army was looking for it. So she hid it in the trees and started walking toward the base.

So sooner had she set off she heard beats of a horse. She swung around and saw her beautiful black Friesian galloping up to her.

"You're alright! I thought you were dead, Vinnie Roe!" she said, patting him. "Well c'mon Vinnie, let's go!"

She jumped up into the saddle and galloped as hard as the horse would go towards the base. It was about ten miles to the base from where she was but she knew her horse would hold up.

As soon as she got inside the gates a couple of soldiers gabbed the reins. She flung herself out of the saddle and bolted down the corridor. Raven needed help and Prachi was going to get it.

She ran up a fight of stairs and around a corner and straight into Captain Hermann who was visiting for the day. She almost knocked him over and he grabbed her arm.

"Let me go," She screamed at him when he didn't let go.

"Why is this kid in here?" Hermann asked a soldier.

"She's colonel Shubaltz's daughter, sir," answered the soldier.

"Let me see some I.D miss," Hermann said.

Prachi drove her hand into her pocket and pulled out her card. He looked at it and gave it back to her.

"You be careful," he said, letting her go.

She ran around another corner and into an office.

"Prachi!" Karl said, jumping up.

"You need to help me!" she said, panting.

He hugged her and asked, "Where have you been?"

She told him what happened.

"No! We are not going to help Raven. No! He's already blown up this base two times and killed over five hundred of our men, what makes you so sure he wont do it again?"

"Dad he's changed! He wouldn't do that anymore. Dad, please, for me. Please, he's going to die out there. He got shot in the stomach for god's sake!"

"Would Raven shoot one of our guys and then come back to help them?"

"Dad those people were going to shoot me and Raven jumped in front of it! He took the bullet for me!"

After an hour of pleading Prachi finally got Karl to send a rescue team out for Raven.

"I'm going with them Dad," Prachi said.

"No your not, you don't have a Zoid," Karl protested.

"Yes I do, I borrowed Raven's. Its up on that gorge."

"Well then I'm going too," Karl answered.

Prachi rode Vinnie Roe back up to where the liger was hidden and met the rescue team. Six Command Wolves, five Gun Snipers, three Shield Ligers, Prachi in the XR Liger and Karl in the Zaber Fang set off into the distance to find Raven.

"So where is this place, anyway?" Karl asked.

"In the forest that's ahead of us. We go really deep into it. Then go about eight miles west. We'll find an old mine. That's where Raven and those other two people are," Prachi explained.

"Dad, thankyou for doing this. It means a lot to me, you know," Prachi said.

"No worries. All the best for my angel," He answered.

"Colonel, our sensors are picking up activity about two miles west of here," Reported one of the Gun Snipers.

"Thankyou, corporal," Karl said. " Aright men, Heres the plan of attack. We surround the area and if the don't come out with Zoids then the ground force in. If they come out with Zoids I want Prachi out of the ay until its safe. Okay?"

"Yes sir," The other soldiers said.

About an hour later everyone had tents set up and fires going. Some people were organising food and drink and others getting firewood. Prachi wanted to help but Karl told her no. So she sat on a log around a fire, watching them. Prachi heard something in the bush. She looked over and saw a black figure emerge.

"Vinnie Roe!" she said, jumping up. She ran over to her horse and cuddled it. "You followed! I thought I told you to stay?"

Vinnie Roe neighed softly.

"Alright. Well come and sit down because you must be tired," Prachi led the horse over to the fire. Prachi sat on the ground and Vinnie Roe curled up on the ground next to her. They both fell asleep and woke a couple of hours later for dinner.


	8. Reunited

Reese and Hiltz walked out from the old mine about half an hour later to see what Raven was up to. The looked around and found him where they left him.

Hiltz grabbed him by the scruff and pulled him up. Raven would have fallen straight back over but there was a tree behind him, so he fell into that instead.

Reese, help him and meet me in the cave," Hiltz said, walking off.

Reese walked over to Raven and helped him off the tree. Raven put one arm around her shoulders for some support and used his other hand to hold his wound.

"Why did you choose that bitch over me?" Reese asked as they were walking to the mine.

"She's not a bitch, Reese. You are," Raven struggled.

Reese stopped walking so that stopped Raven from walking too.

"I could just leave you here u know?"

"Yeah you could but Hiltz will get pissed with you," he smirked.

"Reese! Hurry up!" Hiltz called from the mine.

"Coming!" She called.

They stared walking dementedly because all Ravens' weight was on one side forcing them to walk lop-sided. They finally got to the cave and Hiltz gabbed him off Reese and dragged him down a dark corridor. Raven's pain was overwhelming. He would have sworn black and blue that he was dying.

Hiltz finally put him down at another entrance to the mine. It was flat and grassy- perfect for Zoid fighting.

"Seeming you're not fit for fighting so you will watch us kill your little girlfriend," He said, banging on some chains around Raven's wrists that where connected to the wall. "And you're going to watch her die."

Raven glared up at Hiltz. When Raven got the chance he would tear Hiltz apart.

"Reese, fix up Rabbit so he doesn't die on us," Hiltz said, throwing Reese a bandage.

"But…" Reese stared to protest.

"Just do it!"

"Okay, Okay!" Reese said and walked back into the cave. She came out a few minutes later with some bandages and a bottle of Anti-infect.

She unbuttoned his shirt and took it off. Raven tried to object but it didn't work too well.

She put some Anti-infect on Raven's wound, which stung even more. Raven moaned and rolled around a bit.

It took her most of the night and after she'd finished she left him to go and find Hiltz.

She found him on one of the exits of the mine. He was sitting on the cliff, watching Karl and his mob to set up their camp.

"What's wrong Hiltz?" Reese said.

He sighed and said, "Nothing. Come sit down."

Reese walked over to the edge of the cliff and sat next to him. It was a clear night and the winds were strong. Reese shivered.

Hiltz shifted a little closer to Reese and wrapped an arm around Reese's middle. When Reese looked up at Hiltz, he kissed her. Reese had been waiting for this moment for ages. When Hiltz pulled away Reese stared him in the eyes.

"I love you, Reese," He said.

"I love you, too," she replied.

Hiltz pressed his lips hard against hers and laid her on her back. He climbed on top of her but they were so carried away in doing this they almost fell off the cliff.

"Hey Reese," Hiltz said.

"Mmmm?"

"We can't let any of this get in our way. We have a plan remember?"

"Yeah, I know," Reese answered.

"I gotta go for a walk, I'll be back soon. Go check on Raven, will you?"

"Okay, I'll do it in a minute," she answered, staring up at the stars. She waited until Hiltz had left before moving.

Raven hadn't done much. He reminded Reese of a fish out of water- couldn't do much except roll around a bit. Raven was shivering violently and had a cold sweat. Reese walked over to him and sat next to him. She put her hand on his forehead- he was burning up.

"I. I got-gotta s-see Prachi," he scratched out.

"No you don't. You'll be fine," she answered.

Reese wrapped her arm around his waist and Raven moaned. He didn't want her touching him, but he had no choice really.

A couple of hours later Hiltz walked in.

"I've negotiated and we're having a ground battle in the forest first thing in the morning," he said.

"Hiltz…I don't think Raven will make it through the night. Look at him! He needs a doctor! He wont drink, he won't eat and he's burning up! If you want to win this fight you got to get him proper treatment."

"Reese come out here for a minute," Hiltz said walking out of the room.

She didn't want to get up because he'd just stopped shivering, but she had to anyway. She followed Hiltz out of the room and up the tunnel a bit.

"What?" Hiltz said blankly. "Are you saying he's going to kick the bucket on us?"

"Basically, yeah. I thought about it we can take him as far as fifty metres of the imperial people's campsite and he can stager the rest of the way."

"Are you crazy Reese? We'll get caught!"

"If you want your plan to work you'll need Raven, and he's not much use to you dead, is he? I figured we could catch him again in about six months time and threaten him that we'll kill his girl," explained Reese.

Hiltz sighed. He really did need Raven for his plan to work but six months is ages to him.

"Six months?"

"It will take about two months to heal, then he needs to recover then he needs to get fit again. Six months is reasonable," Reese said.

"Okay. Well we gotta grab Raven then."

Within ten minutes Hiltz had Raven over his shoulder and they were striding across the grassland toward Shubaltz's camp.

"Right Raven, if you want to live your going to walk the rest of the way to Shubaltz's camp" Hiltz said, putting Raven down.

He was unsteady on his feet and couldn't stand. But he was strong so he was prepared to face the challenge. He at least wanted to live to see and touch Prachi again. He had to walk about fifty metres to get to help; he didn't think he would make it.

Hiltz and Reese let go of him and walked off back toward the mine. Raven got to about ten metres of the bush that hid the camp a bit but tripped and fell over. He knew he would never be able to get up again. He couldn't call out to someone and I didn't think anyone heard him. He was wrong; Vinnie Roe's sensitive ears picked up a sound from the other side of the bush.

The horse went to investigate. No one noticed the horse walk away except Prachi. She didn't follow; just watched.

Vinnie Roe walked over to Raven who was lying on the ground. He wasn't moving but Vinnie Roe knew he wasn't dead. The horse remembered this guy by his hair. He nosed Raven then sat down next to him. The horse was only wearing a bridle; Prachi took his saddle off earlier.

Raven crawled up onto Vinnie Roe's back and grabbed his mane. The horse got up as carefully as be could so Raven wouldn't slip off. He walked back to the camp and through the bush.

"Raven!" Prachi squeaked, jumping up.

She ran over to the horse and pulled Raven off him. A couple of the soldiers jumped up and raised their weapons.

"Hold your fire!" Karl ordered jumping up too.

Raven collapsed onto the ground. Prachi held his head into her and rocked him. She stared crying because he was so sick and hurt. She didn't like seeing him like this. She didn't like what that blue haired women did to him.

"Nurse!" Karl called, and a nurse came running. Karl stared at Raven and Prachi. Karl was happy, he can now avoid a fight, but then again, he wasn't happy. In his eyes Raven was still a psycho killer.

Within an hour, the nurse had got Raven into the first-aid tent. She had re-bandaged him and given him some painkillers.

The nurse was just about to give Raven a needle.

"W-what's in th-that?" Raven scratched out.

"Don't worry, were not going to kill you, its to stop infection," she said.

Raven laughed weakly. It sounded evil though. Like he had something planed. The nurse freaked a bit.

Prachi didn't leave his side all night and even when they got him back to the base and in the hospital she refused to leave him. When they got back to the base the doctor stitched up his wound. He was set up with a drip and given more painkillers.

Prachi sat next to Raven in the hospital bed. He was holding her limp hand in his. The beeps, clicks and dripping of the IV were all the sound in the room. He could barely stand to look at her. Prachi stared at the ground.

He shouldn't of come in the first place, Prachi thought. I'm going to get my revenge on those people! Hunt them down and kill them like animals.

There suddenly was a knock on the door. Prachi looked up.

"Come in," she said gruffly.

It was Van. The Guardian must have just come back from their scouting mission.

Prachi rubbed her eyes and got up to hug him. "Hi Van."

He hugged her back. "Hey Prachi, are you ok? What happened to your face?"

Prachi still had bruises over her face where Raven, Reese and Hiltz had hit her. She told him what had happened. Van suddenly realised that it was Hiltz and Reese that she was talking about.

"No Van, this is my war now. You can help fight but your not going to fight for me. I will win, if I don't I'll die trying. As long as there's something there to fight for I'll fight it to the death."

"But Prachi, you don't know how to-"

"I will learn how to fight. God damn it Van, I was raised in the miliary for Pete's sake! Anyway you can't and won't stop me Van. I'm not a child anymore. No more big-brother stuff. If I have to fight this fight myself I'll do it!"

But Prachi, you don't know how they think. You don't know how they work! You can't just go out onto a battlefield and win without knowing anything about your opponent!" Van argued.

"You just don't get it do you? Look, come here." She walked over to Raven's bed. She unbuttoned his shirt and showed him the bullet wound. "If you where Raven, Lying here helpless, I would go out and fight for you. I would hunt them down and cut them up. That's what I'm doing! It's too late Van, you're too late. I know why I was put here now. To get rid of evil in this world so that there is no more suffering. I'm fighting for Raven, for everyone, the world. I'm fighting for Zi. If we just let this go, they'll multiply and then you'll have another war on your hands. Then you'll have more pain, more agony. Do you really want that? Van tell me now, or it'll be too late."

Van sighed, taking in what she had just said. He knew it was true, all of it. He knew there was no more stopping her now. She had her head strung high and her eyes focused on the horizon.


End file.
